My OMGAM for September, Blank Slate, is up. A bit of a scramble this month; I like to have these up and done by the first or so and this month I realized very late that, while I had November's done and a solid, workable prototype for October, I hadn't even an idea for September!
So I thought it'd be fun to go back to that first game many of us played, the one where you have no idea what's going on and just start asking oracle questions.
You start with a blank slate and create Traits, positive and negative, as they're revealed in play by your rolls and choices. Instead of a strict "board game" structure, it has a very gentle framework based on meters that's designed to work with the included page of tables to push-pull through a story arc to an ending.
It uses a simple 2d6 mechanic inspired by Apocalypse World and the teetotum.
Play-testing is minimal (as usual for OMGAM) but what I did do was fun! Please let me know if I didn't explain something clearly or made some sort of huge logic error or something, haha.
Now on to October. :)
#OMGAM
https://exposit.github.io/katarpgs/superlite/blankslate/
Yep, those are basically the backbone of the whole structure!
ReplyDeleteIn previous games (with more of a "board game" feel) I had individual lists of escalations for each scene, and that worked well.
But I wondered if there was a way to condense it down further and make it more open-ended without sacrificing coherency. Not sure I succeeded but it feels good in play!
I love this so much. I've had a thought for a while now that a type of solo RPG comprised of a chart/list of tables that enabled the game to sort of "play itself" could be a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteMoonSylver If you want autonomous, you should take a look at PET, the framework I put up a few days ago! It's inspired by how I play The Sims; almost everything's off-loaded to charts and a framework and you only have to move the pieces directly that you want to.
ReplyDeleteBlank Slate is partly a riff on that, but from more of a character stance, if that makes sense. The idea is that, just like in a novel or movie, you'll only see aspects of the character demonstrated as they become relevant.
It's also a callback in some ways to my first game, 6 Hours to Midnight, in that it uses a string of scenes and a meter to control them. Unlike 6 Hours, however, the meters aren't there to determine if and how well you win, but to help impose coherency on the story.